Inevitable
by Berix
Summary: The Counter Force acts in mysterious ways. In one world it might urge Tony Stark to make the sacrifice play, in another, it might take a different route to victory. One-Shot. (Heh!)


He appeared with a muted flash of light, a few feet above a piece of concrete that had been broken off when Thanos' ship first appeared. He landed in a crouch several hundred feet from the Mad Titan himself, and was dressed in black body armor with red sleeves and a red open skirt that ended at his shins. Besides this, the man had white hair and grey eyes, and the visible parts of his skin were all heavily tanned.

He rose from his crouch, reinforced his eyesight, and gazed towards the center of the battlefield. There he saw the Mad Titan, Thanos, wrestling with a blonde woman who was surrounded in an orange glow of energy. Worn on Thanos' hand was the object that they were both wrestling for control of: a red and silver gauntlet that housed the six Infinity Stones, gems that were created when the universe began, and that when united granted the wielder absolute power of any and all.

The human of the two combatants had succeeded in forcing the Titan to his knees, but as she tensed for one last burst of energy to rip the gauntlet off, Thanos reached towards the resting place of the Stones with his left hand, releasing one of them, and channeling its energy into his hand for a devastating strike onto Carol Danvers, knocking her out.

The man made his way towards the center of the battlefield, picking his way down the slope of a collapsed wall, and ducking under the wreckage of the facility that formerly had stood at this location. He missed the exchange between Stephen Strange and Tony Stark during this time, but its outcome mattered not.

He saw Thanos replace the Power Stone into the gauntlet and get briefly overwhelmed with energy, providing an opening for Tony Stark to once more assault Thanos with the goal of saving the universe. He saw Thanos brutally dish out blows that would end any lesser man to Tony Stark, and with his enhanced eyesight he saw the Infinity Stones placed firmly within the gauntlet slowly slip out as Stark was sent flying.

He made the last stretch with ease, his enhanced muscles sending him leaping up to the area that the Mad Titan and Iron Man had been fighting on, and with a thought he projected a large black bow in his left hand.

Holding his free hand out, a globe of magical energy formed above his slightly curled palm, before he spread out the fingers and the prana solidified into an object. A sword.

This sword was only vaguely recognizable as such. Its handle and guard were the same as any that you would normally find on a longsword, however, where there would normally be a sharpened blade, instead there was a blade the shape of a drill extending out of the guard, and reaching as long as the man's arm.

As he notched it on the string and began drawing it, the man returned his attention to the Titan. Thanos was standing in place, slowly panting, and raising his gauntleted hand to the sky and speaking while preparing to snap his fingers, a way to channel the energy of the Stones.

"I am. . . Inevitable." Thanos' gravelly voice spoke out before his ring finger and thumb snapped with a clank of metal hitting metal. Within moments Thanos had realized that something had gone wrong, and after taking a moment to study his gauntlet finally noticed the missing gems. As he looked toward Tony Stark with suprise and hatred evident in his face, the bowman took his chance to act.

His bow fully drawn, and his sword elongated into an arrow through the use of magecraft, the red-sleeved man aimed at Thanos and spoke.

"And _**I am the Bone of my Sword**_."

Both Thanos and Stark looked up, surprised at the newcomer to this fateful duel, and watched in astonishment as the very air around him began to crackle with red eldritch energy.

**"Caladbolg II: The Fake Spiral Sword."**

Arrow released, name spoken, and Noble Phantasm broken.

It traveled the space between the bowman and Thanos within a heartbeat, faster than anyone on the battlefield could perceive, leaving behind a trail as it went, and in an instant the arrow was buried halfway through Thanos' body, protruding slightly out of his back, striking through the heart.

Thanos looked down at his chest. He coughed purple blood and collapsed to one knee. It was apparent that death would come for him soon, but there was still the risk that he could do damage in his last moments.

And then the Noble Phantasm finally broke.

The magical energy of a legendary sword released into the world with nothing to hold it in shape. Power to slice mountains with a single swing, all focused directly on Thanos.

A brief sun lit the grey sky, and Thanos, Mad Titan, and would-be destroyer of all that there is, died. Destroyed in a moment by a force that he would never comprehend.

As the mushroom cloud died down it revealed the bowman standing in front of Stark, one arm raised, and a pink seven-layered shield dissipating at his command.

"W-what was that? The wizard said there was only one option, and judging by his expression right now I doubt that was it." This came from Stark, shell-shocked at the sudden death of Thanos, a foe that had singlehandedly taken everything that Stark and the Avengers could throw at him and still stood tall.

"Your wizard can't predict the Counter-Force." He smirked at the armored hero before turning and stepping a few feet away. A muted flash of light, and with that final statement, EMIYA, Counter Guardian, and Dog of Alaya dissapeared from the battlefield, his job done.

**[FIN]**


End file.
